Royal Befall
by Tsutarja-cuteness101
Summary: Queen Sectonia's descent into madness and vanity...from Taranza's point of view, anyway. Third-person narrative, though. Taranza/Sectonia, albeit one-sided.
1. Chapter 1

_"S..sir T..Taranza..I..n..never worked th..the strength...to tell you...a..and as my last word...s..I...I lo..ve..you.."_

Those words echoed in his brain.

Love?

Someone had loved him this entire time? And never breathed a word about it…

…Well…until now, obviously.

But that part didn't matter. The notion in itself bothered him.

Had it been Princess—now Queen—Sectonia that had confessed to him, he would have been quite ecstatic. After all, the queen held a special place in his heart…

…A servant girl, however…?

Sure, Bachi was a kind girl, and certainly had been some kind of fun before…and saved Sectonia's life, but…

…This news sort of made him regret some things. Both not being nicer to her…and ever giving her attention at all.

Certainly, if he had ignored her or…_something_, she wouldn't have fallen in love with someone that wouldn't love her back?

She wouldn't have died with her love unrequited?

…That thought made him shudder. He didn't want to die like that…

Taranza glanced over at his queen, who was hurrying next to him, holding Bachi's dead body so it could be buried in the garden.

…He'd have to tell her…eventually…

…Probably most definitely not now, however. It wasn't the appropriate time or place, and…frankly, he was a little scared of being rejected.

Well, whatever.

He had to keep his priorities in order, which meant helping the Queen bury the one who had saved her…

…No, even if Bachi hadn't saved her life, Sectonia would have done this anyway. That's just the way she was…

…The person Taranza fell in love with…

Eventually, after what seemed like forever to the spider floralian, they arrived in the garden.

Secy immediately picked out the perfect spot, and implored Tar's help, which didn't take much, thankfully.

Digging in the dirt was, well, a dirty job, obviously, but her majesty refused to let anyone else bury the servant.

Though Taranza had always considered himself above this sort of thing, for his Queen, and for the one that had confessed to him, he decided he really didn't care this time.

…Once they were done, the two sat in almost-silence, the only noise being when Sectonia finally began sobbing. Tara didn't know how to comfort her, and, thus, just awkwardly sat there, staring at the ground.

…What else could he possibly do…?

It wasn't every day someone died protecting you, during your coronation…

* * *

**By the by, Bachi does NOT belong to me. She is a FC belonging to a friend of mine.**


	2. Chapter 2

Several days later, and things...seemed to have only gotten worse, really.

Queen Sectonia had taken to staying in bed for the most part, still shaken up and miserable.  
She adored all of her subjects and servants, and losing one, especially one that saved her life...Nova, it was painful.

There were various attempts to rouse her, but, though they appeared to have worked at first, her heart really wasn't in it, and she'd promptly try to return to bed.

Sometimes, her advisors chided her for it.  
It was just a servant girl, one measly servant, there was no need to be so upset, regardless of circumstance.

Sometimes, she got angry, and snapped at them.  
Just why _shouldn't_ she be upset!? It was one of her loyal subjects, someone she enjoyed being around-Bachi was a person, was _someone_! One of her favorites...  
Not just some expendable nobody.  
...No one here was.  
No one would be.  
The queen wouldn't allow it.

...Sometimes, she felt guilty.  
For all her mourning, she still had a job to do, didn't she? She was the ruler now, and she had a duty to attend to-several of them!  
But, then...why did that never seem to motivate her much...?  
She was still upset, still miserable...

She just really didn't want to get out of bed...

* * *

Taranza wasn't doing much better. He was irritable, and couldn't stop himself from hissing at anyone who got too close.  
Everything was still swirling in his head; he didn't know how to deal with it.  
Something like this...had never happened before. Nobody had ever _died_ here - not since he had been alive.

Sure, obviously, other people had died before then...and _maybe_ people outside the castle had died during his life, but he never went to the outside world. Not since he was little, anyway.  
So there was no way to know...or, at least, no way that didn't require work he didn't feel like doing.

Things...somehow seemed to lead him back to his queen, regardless, though.  
Some part of him wanted to comfort her. Some part of him wanted to be comforted.  
Another...just missed seeing her. In a way none of the advisors or other servants could understand.

They didn't see her as a friend, as a person, really. They only saw her as a ruler, which, while may be fitting, was something Taranza knew she disliked greatly.  
It had to be part of the reason why great lengths had to be taken to coax her out of her room.

The thought of them, bothering her, the kinds of insensitive things they'd say to brush aside her feelings...that infuriated him even more.  
If only that still mattered, any of the times he actually went into her room...

Seeing her so miserable, it really made it hard to stay angry. And before he'd know it, the anger would be replaced by a dull, resigned depression.  
He'd put a comforting hand on her, to which she wouldn't react, or, usually, just sigh.  
If he was lucky, which hardly happened, she'd ask why.  
Why it happened, why couldn't she just get over it like everyone wanted, why it had to be Bachi, why anyone would want to kill Sectonia herself anyway...

...He wished he had the answers.

* * *

Today, Taranza decided, was gonna be the day he'd do something to cheer Sectonia up. Anything. If he had to see her be so upset for much longer...

...He had chosen flowers for this occasion, though; aster, azalea, pink camellia, white carnations, chrysanthemum, iris, lily-of-the-valley...he hoped they'd get his message across better than anything he could actually say.  
He wasn't very good with words.

Nonetheless, he pushed open the door to the queen's room, taking a deep, shaky breath to calm his nerves.  
"...y-your majesty...?"

"..."

"...I brought a present." He slowly went over, presenting her with the bouquet.

It took a moment, but she eventually looked over, stared a moment...  
Her gaze briefly flickered to the spider, which served as his only warning before she pulled him into a tight, life-squeezing hug.

"-ghk!" He sucked in as much breath as he could, resisting every urge to struggle free.  
Though, he couldn't exactly hug back while he was being crushed to death either.

Sectonia stayed silent for a moment more, then slowly let go, resting her hands at the servant's sides.  
"...It's...not wrong I'm upset she's dead...is it...?"

"-what?" He looked up at her, before shaking his head. "Of course not, your majesty!"

She stared intently into his eyes, seemingly...unconvinced.  
Not to say that she didn't want to believe it, but...

...After another moment of silence, and Taranza awkwardly shifting, he finally spoke up again, "Even still, we...we miss you, you know? We miss seeing you, and your lovely smile...  
...D...do you think you can come back to us again...? For a little bit, at least? I think it'd really cheer everyone up, too..."

"...I...I guess could try...one more time..."

"That's the spirit!" He finally hugged her, though being careful to hold his bouquet away from it.

She patted his head, finally taking the flowers and putting them aside.  
"...I have a lovely smile, huh...?"

The spider gulped a bit, hoping his immediate embarrassment didn't seem too odd.  
"Y-yea...um..." He paused, glancing around.

There was a dusty hand-mirror on the nightstand, something Taranza recognized as being what the queen used when she was younger. Mostly so she could mess with her paper crowns, and try to draw on her face with whatever would leave a mark.  
It hadn't been used since before Sectonia was a teen...but it'd have to do.

Taking it and cleaning it off with his cape, he then held it up to her. "See? You're pretty enough now...  
But you look even lovelier when you smile!"

"..." She slowly took the handle, studying her reflection.  
The mirror was still somewhat dirty, but she could still see herself easily.  
She was a bit on the pale side at the moment, eyes looking dull, though she supposed that part was from her current emotional state.

_This_ was 'pretty' to him...?  
Sure, Taranza meant well...but she, personally, didn't think this sad sack was anything worth looking at.

However, she managed a small smile anyway, with a...minimal amount of forcing herself.  
He _did_ mean well.  
As much as her advisors wanted her to "just get over it", Taranza, and her other subjects, genuinely wanted to see her be happy again much more than that...

"...see?" He smiled a bit as well. "You're looking better already!"

"Y-yes...I suppose you're right..."

"...think you're ready to head back out...?"

"I...I guess so..." She hugged him again, albeit much gentler than before, and with one hand.  
"May I ask you to accompany me, though, Tara...?"

"Of course, your majesty! Always!"

"Great…" She smiled. "I'm glad…"

* * *

_alright, the second chapter, finally out! i hope it was at least somewhat worth the wait...  
and, now, also hopefully, i'll be able to get the next one written and out before too long  
but i guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens_


End file.
